Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst welcoming thousands for air show and open house

WRIGHTSTOWN — For the first time in four years, top-flight military pilots will tear through the skies above Burlington County this weekend at an event mixing shows of aerial power above with aviation history below.

It’s all part of the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst open house and air show, a free event happening Saturday and Sunday.

The event is the first of its kind at the sprawling Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst intended to showcase the aircraft and abilities of the five service branches on the installation.

Officials expect 150,000 to 300,000 visitors to come to the base for demonstrations by some of the most elite airmen and airwomen in the military, including the paratroopers of the Army’s Golden Knights and the pilots of the Air Force’s Thunderbirds.

“Because of the fact that it’s been four years since there’s been an event, we really don’t know what’s going to show out there. We built around an expectation of 150,000-ish people and we’ve got the capability to flex over that,” said Lt. Colonel Rich Ficken, the coordinator of the open house. “There’s no limit; there’s no tickets. We’ll try to find a way for it to work the best we can.”

The joint base is home to service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard, and organizers have worked to make sure displays from all five branches are present and accounted for at the open house.

“You’re actually getting the opportunity to see that total force out there putting on its best for the American public,” Ficken said.

The headline act of the day will come from the Air Force’s Thunderbirds, a team of six F-16 fighter jets flown specifically for air show displays. A second show team, the parachutists of the Army’s Golden Knights will also perform a drop over the main airfield.

Weekend open house and air show at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst For the first time in four years, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst will open its doors for a free open house and air show. The event will be celebrating more than 95 years of defending the nation's air, land and sea. More than 25 historic and current static aircraft will be on display for people to view as well as aerial performances from the Air Force Thunderbirds, the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team among others. The event runs Saturday and Sunday, May 12-13 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Video by Andre Malok / The Star-Ledger)

Members of the base’s Marine Air Group Task Force, MAG 49, will be putting on one of the few mixed demonstrations of the day, using multiple aircraft to combine aerial maneuvers with action on the ground, said Major Tim Williams, the air operations director for the open house.

The Navy will give a tactical demonstration of the F-18, a modern carrier-based aircraft flown up from Oceana Air Force Base in Virginia, Williams said.

No unmanned or drone aircraft used in recent overseas conflicts will be displayed.

Along with providing an overview of the services represented at the joint base, Ficken said the organizers wanted to show the combined history of the base, which held its first air show in December of 1945. Visitors will get to see the distinctive twin booms of the long-range, World War II-era P-38 Lightning and the powerful engine of the P-51 Mustang fighter/bomber.

“Almost all of the airplanes they had on the ground then, we will also have on the ground this time,” he said. “You’re going to see the modern airplanes that are flying around in the sky every day, but as a part of our reaching back into our heritage, we’ve got airplanes that date back all the way to the World War I era.”

Beyond showing the range of past and present war birds, there will also be ground vehicles used by the Army and Marines and demonstrations of other equipment used on the base, Ficken said.

“At the various displays that are going to be around, you’re going to have crew members who are on those planes that are out there, or around the vehicles. So, there’s going to be a member there to answer people’s questions, and it’s a great opportunity to come out and ask those questions you’ve always wanted to ask,” Ficken said.

Attendees will also have plenty of options for food and beverages that range from the everyday to the exotic, said Monty Dunn, the director of services for the open house.
There will also be children’s meals available, along with a play area for kids in need of a break from the show.

“We’ve made every effort,” he said.

This year’s open house and air show marks the first time the general public has been welcomed onto the base since the last show that came one year after federal investigators foiled a possible terrorist attack on Fort Dix in May of 2007. The fort later merged with McGuire Air Force Base and the Naval Engineering Station Lakehurst in October 2009 to form the joint base.

That year, a federal judge convicted five foreign-born men for conspiring to kill service members at Fort Dix in an attack inspired by the Islamist terror network, al Qaeda.

“We don’t dwell on that incident,” said Capt. Shannon O’Neal, director of operations for the joint base police department. “We have made many advances to our security structure since that incident, be it electronic security devices, the addition of personnel, or improvements to our vehicles.”

The base has widely adopted the use of using dog teams to check outside vehicles.

Spokesman Angel Lopez said the base has made a concerted effort to coordinate security with state and local law enforcement so that anyone coming to the open house can feel safe coming to the installation.

“We’ve been planning since last August from the emergency services side of the house,” said Steve Robertson, the chief of emergency management for the open house. “We’ll have over 50 pieces of apparatus and about 125 folks from off the base that will be augmenting our own on-base forces. They will be providing emergency medical services, and helping with the law enforcement end.”

Ficken said parking to accommodate the thousands of visitors to the base will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Spaces in lots closest to the base are likely to fill up quickly, and, while bus service shuttling drivers from more distant parking lots will be available, families with small children or older adults who intend to walk should make sure the hike to the show area is manageable, he said.

“The thing to realize is, the farther you are out, it is going to be a longer walk, so you need to plan ahead.”

The base gates open at 8 a.m., with air show demonstrations from 11 a.m. until roughly 4 p.m.

Visitors should be prepared to have their possessions and cars searched by police and dogs.

“People do need to be patient with traffic,” said O’Neal. “It is going to be very congested around the installation, especially on the way out.”